“ME PUEDES QUITAR MI ROPA Y MI DINERO PERO LA UNICA COSA QUE NO ME PUEDES QUITAR ES MI EDUCACION,” a woman stated at the Latino Conference in Des Moines, Iowa on Oct. 10, 2008. What she said stayed in my head all day because it was the truth and I never thought of it that way. This conference was a really great and motivating experience for me and for everybody that went. This was a chance for me to expand my horizons of knowledge and opportunities. There were speakers, dancers, and workshops that taught from Latino’s rights to Aztec dancing.
When we walked into the University of Grand View, where the conference was being held, my padrino Carlos H. Jiménez, was registering us. Us meaning Maria, Hector (mi hermanito), Roselia, Jessica, Martha, Brenda, and myself, Antonio. I was pretty excited to see all these “Latinos,” wanting to learn something in one place about the past, present, and future “de nuestra raza.” The first thing we did was go into this big room called “Viking Theatre.” I was thinking to myself, “!Orale! I’m going to be bored for an hour.” Pero, I was wrong. When I heard that there was going to be a dancing ceremony, which one of my passions is dancing, I started to pay more attention. Then there was a loud low pitched horn noise that I heard, and then I saw two people walking in the middle of the room and started beating the drums hard and fast. I zoned everything out and paid full attention to the drummers. The faster the drums went the faster and harder my heart pumped. Then more dancers came out and they started dancing to the beat of the drum. I was fascinated about the way they moved and how the drums made my heart beat faster and my feet tapped harder. They were dressed very interesting – traditional Aztec attire. The one that caught my eye was the dancer with the eagle and long brown feathers on his head. He was dancing to “el ritmo de los tambores.” It seemed as if it was an art. You could tell that their hearts were in the dance, as if their minds, bodies, and spirits were free. As if they could do anything.
Then, after the dance ceremony they introduced Francisco Guajardo. He was telling us about how he came from nothing to somebody with great power, I’m not talking about power like being the president or controlling an army, the power I’m talking about is education. This man is a great speaker and motivated me to think about my future. This man came from poverty in Mexico and worked hard enough to graduate from Oxford University. That must have been a great feeling graduating from Oxford knowing that people doubted his abilities and knowledge of being “alguien en la vida.” Francisco Guajardo stated, “People and statistics say that Latinos are at risk, but that is a lie, if you think you are at risk, then you’ll think you’re handicapped and can’t do anything.” What he said will stay with me until I reach my dream of being a teacher and passing on the same thing to my students. After his speech we had a workshop to go to with speaker Laura Rendón, Ph.D. She was another “Latina” with a story of her own. Dr. Rendón and Francisco had differences in their own life story, but their biggest similarities were; the two worked from being kids with dreams to making their dreams into a reality.
Last, after the workshop was lunch. I was mega hungry. After we were done eating we chose to go to the “Aztec dance” workshop. Which I was very excited for. The teacher Susana De Leon told everyone that was taking the workshop to get in a big circle and in the middle of the circle was an Aztec dancer with a drum. Susana started to tell us about how the dance is not just not a performance it’s a living, an art, an exercise to free the mind, body, soul, and heart. When she started teaching us step by step I was excited and pretending I was a real Aztec Indian dancing bare footed on Mexican soil. I thought it was easy but it was a workout. You had to be light on your feet, be swift, and move to the rhythm of the drum. I was sweating bullets while I was dancing but know I wasn’t just pretending I was an Aztec Indian but that everyone were Aztec Indians dancing on the dirt barefoot and the sun hitting are skin.
When we were done dancing we went to the student center. When I walked in I saw people talking and socializing and kids my age dancing and having fun. I was thinking to myself, “I’m glad that I came on this trip.” I learned a lot and I’m glad that I am Latino and that I will succeed in the man I want to be and live my dream of being a teacher and helping kids in my community get out and reach for the stars. A special thank you to my padrino for caring for my future.
Antonio De Jesus Varela was part of a group of students taken to the Latino Youth Leadership Summit which is part of the annual Strengthening and Valuing Latino Communities in Iowa Conference which took place in Des Moines, Iowa from Oct. 10-11. He was selected to write about his experience by Hola America Newspaper.
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